Gathering Recipes From Social Cookbooks

Gathering together the best

Church groups, literary and art groups, social clubs, grange women and women’s auxiliaries have long produced collections of favorite recipes, usually for fund-raising and gift-giving, but mostly to preserve the traditions of family fare for future generations. Most of these charming cookbooks aren’t available in bookstores or on Internet sites, but a search through thrift stores, used book stores and yard sales can unearth these treasure troves of delicious dishes and delightful insight into the women who compiled them.

My own collection spans 30 years and includes several well-thumbed and annotated books from my mother’s and mother-in-law’s kitchen shelves, as well as some I picked up at bazaars and fund-raisers. The titles are delightful, and a fascinating combination of ingredients reflects the era of each cookbook and, likewise, methods and appliances change the personalities of these cookbooks over time. Early 20th-century recipes incorporate readily available and inexpensive ingredients, with emphasis on frugality. A drawback to some of these recipes is the lack of instruction. “Combine and bake until done.” OK, in what? How hot? How long? The cook simply knew what to do, and writing it down wasn’t necessary. Once these recipes were handed down and incorporated into family collections, the missing data became important, as often the originator of the recipe was no longer around to remember the details. Another glitch in hand-me-down recipes is the margin of error. Grandma’s handwriting wasn’t too good and, along the way, one teaspoon became one tablespoon, or she forgot to include an ingredient. But that said, with a little thought, one can figure out how to successfully prepare these mystery dishes.

As the economy improved, more convenience foods appeared in the entries, and the housewife’s role as chief cook and bottle-washer was made easier. Recipes such as “Tomato Soup Cake” and “Mock Escalloped Chicken” used ingredients that cut preparation time by as much as half. With the introduction of the refrigerator in 1916, many “overnight” dishes appeared, such as “Refrigerator Salad” and “Ribbon Sandwiches.”

Another delightful aspect of these recipe collections is the insight into the women who shared them. Leafing through the pages, one can almost hear the comments and discussions as the cookbook committee made their plans. “Grandma Elsie’s Cornbread,” “Good Ole Soup,” and “My Man Cookies” intimate a special place in the heart of the person offering the recipe. Ethnic heritage became more apparent as America’s melting pot brewed a delicious mix of foods from many lands. Often the recipes included in these cookbooks are, indeed, company-published favorites such as the famous Campbell’s® “Green Bean Casserole” that appears on every Thanksgiving table, or the decadent “Chocolate Wafer Cake” printed on boxes of Nabisco® chocolate wafers. This, too, enhances family tradition – everyone wants to cook it the way Mom did.

Sprinkled throughout these cookbooks are bits of wisdom and humor that give each book its own personality through the individuals who contributed. “Sad fact of life: square meals make round people,” “Don’t put off until tomorrow the things you should have done yesterday,” and my own personal favorite: “Many a cook does wonderful things with leftovers – she throws them out.”

The following menu is compiled from several of the books I mentioned earlier. I tested 18 delicious-sounding dishes and settled on six, which span from 1960 to 2004. Brackets [ ] indicate my own notations.

The appetizer comes from Cooking for Applause, compiled and published by The Backers of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in 1981. The sturdy hardcover bound with wire holds 286 pages, with categories divided into the traditional food sections and a full index. Combined first and second printings of this great cookbook totaled 25,000 copies. 

BLEU CHEESE CHUTNEY SPREAD

[This creamy spread is delightfully different and goes especially well with water crackers and a fruity white wine.] 

2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
3 ounces bleu cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chutney 

Combine cream cheese, bleu cheese, butter, onion, milk, curry powder and salt. Blend until creamy. Add chutney and stir in well. Refrigerate 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before serving. Makes 1 1/2 cups. 

One of the best potato soups I’ve ever tasted came from Women of Good Taste, compiled by Beta Sigma Phi and published by Heritage House Inc. in 1998. The large-size softcover with wire binding contains hundreds of recipes in 222 pages, including a full index. 

GRAMMA LAGER’S HOMEMADE POTATO SOUP

[No water is drained from the cooked vegetables, which allows the rich vitamins to remain.] 

3 large potatoes, peeled, diced [5-6 cups]
1 medium carrot, peeled, chopped [about 1/2 cup]
1 medium rib celery, chopped [about 1/2 cup]
1 slice [1/4 inch] onion
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
Dash pepper 

Place potatoes, carrot, celery and onion in a 2-quart heavy pan and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low. Cook until vegetables begin to soften, stirring occasionally. The starch in the potatoes will thicken the soup. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Serves 4. 

For the salad selection, I chose this yummy slaw-type salad (now a family favorite) from the oldest book in my collection. We Can Cook, Too! was put together in 1960 by the Oak Grove Garden Club in Oak Grove, Oregon. Hand-typed recipes were mimeographed and bound in a black, 3-ring notebook. Hand-drawn illustrations and cute sayings enhance the 180 pages of one-of-a-kind recipes. Many of the entries have been annotated in blue ink.

SNOW SALAD

2 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup white grapes
1 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cream
1/2 cup chopped almonds 

Combine cabbage, grapes and coconut. Mix mayonnaise and cream and toss with salad ingredients. [Add almonds just before serving. Yields 6 servings.]

An old favorite with a spicy twist makes up the entrée found in Trinity Treats, a spiral-bound fundraiser produced by the members of Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Zanesville, Ohio. More than 250 recipes in as many pages are all cross-indexed. 

MEATLOAF WITH ZESTY TOPPING

[Leftovers make terrific sandwiches.]

2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup minced onion
2 pounds ground beef

Topping

1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
3 tablespoons brown sugar 

Preheat oven to 300°F. Beat eggs in mixing bowl, then stir in remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Shape into loaf and place in 2-quart casserole with a cover. Combine topping ingredients and spread over meatloaf. Cover and bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Serves 8. 

Ohio corn produces this great side dish and Ohio farm cooking at its best. The Grange Women of Ohio State Grange started publishing the Ohio State Grange Cookbook in the early 1900s. Hundreds of recipes are in this spiral-bound softcover that is a fixture in many Ohio kitchens. 

CORN PUDDING

2 cups cut or grated corn
1 cup sweet milk
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons flour 

Mix well, [place in 1-quart casserole] and bake 1 hour in moderate [350°F] oven. [Yields 4 to 6 servings.]

The sweet ending to any meal comes from the dessert section of Thank Heaven for Home Made Cooks, put together by the Christian Women’s Fellowship of the Central Christian Church in Corpus Christi, Texas. Another hefty volume with hundreds of recipes in a spiral-bound softcover, it was published by Circulation Service Inc. in 1968.

OATMEAL PIE

2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup oleo [margarine], softened
2/3 cup white Karo® syrup
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 9-inch pie shell [unbaked] 

Mix sugar, butter, eggs, syrup, vanilla and vinegar. Add oats and pour into pie shell. Bake at 350°F until filling is set, 45 to 60 minutes. Serve hot or cold; may top with whipped cream. [Yields 8 to 10 servings.] 

The foods of our childhood, our holidays, our families and our memories are strong ties with the past and the future, and women have been keeping those traditions and memories alive for decades. Take some time to look through your own collection and see if you find something you’d forgotten. Then make it a part of your present. 

“First Cake”

She measured out the butter with a very solemn air,

            The milk and sugar also, and she took the greatest care

To count the eggs correctly and to add a little bit

            Of baking powder, which you know, beginners oft omit.

Then she stirred it all together and she baked it full an hour,

            But she never quite forgave herself for leaving out the flour.

            – Excerpt from a World War I Davis Baking Powder booklet, printed on title page of We Can Cook, Too! 

Toni Leland is an Ohio writer and photographer. She writes for several publications and Dave’s Garden, an international gardening website. She can be contacted atwww.ToniLeland.com.

Old-fashioned Bread

Ann Gubler, of La Verkin, Utah, writes to say a neighbor would like Salt Rising Bread. She’s seen the old-fashioned recipe but hasn’t been able to find it.

Betty Stanaland, Medford, Oregon, sends this version from The American Heritage Cookbook, published in 1964.

Martha Sheldon, Metairie, Louisiana, asks if anyone has adapted this recipe to a bread machine. What do you think, readers? 

Salt Rising Bread

Sometimes called lightnin’ bread, Salt Rising Bread was popular at a time when homemade yeasts were both unrealistic and troublesome to prepare and keep.

2 cups milk
2 cups white corn meal
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 to 10 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons shortening 

Scald milk, remove from heat, and stir in corn meal, sugar and salt until smooth. Cover with a tea towel and set in a warm place overnight.

The following morning, add 1 cup warm water mixed with baking soda and about 2 1/2 cups flour (enough to make a rather stiff batter). Set the bowl of batter in a pan of warm water, cover, and let stand until it foams up (this can take from 2 hours to half a day). Try to keep the water at an even temperature all the time – not too hot, not too cold. If it seems as though the batter is not rising, give it a stir to help it along.

Some people object to the odor during this period but, as Practical Housekeeping explained, this is “the result of acetous [or sour] fermentation, but the more of that the more sure you are of having sweet bread when baked.”

When the batter has risen, knead in shortening and more flour (it may take as many as 8 cups) to make a stiff bread dough. Shape into 2 loaves, set in greased loaf pans, and let rise until double in bulk. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 1 hour or until light brown in color. 

Several recipes for Salt Rising Bread that appear in the rather thick folder I will be sending on to Ann included potatoes, including this recipe from Mattie Henry, Troy, Alabama.

Salt Rising Bread 

Starter:

3 medium potatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
4 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons corn meal
1 teaspoon salt

Dough:

2 cups lukewarm milk
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water
2 tablespoons melted shortening
1/8 teaspoon salt
Flour 

Pare and slice potatoes. Add corn meal, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and boiling water. Wrap bowl in heavy cloth. Cover and allow to stand in warm place overnight. Come morning, remove potatoes; add milk, water, baking soda, salt and shortening. Add sufficient flour to make a dough, just stiff enough to knead. Knead until smooth and elastic. Form into loaves. Place in well-oiled pans. Cover and let rise until double in bulk. Bake in moderate oven (400°F) about 45 minutes. 

Winter Pie

Travis Massey, Idabel, Oklahoma, requests a recipe for Vinegar Pie. A popular request among Grit readers, vinegar pie has appeared in Recipe Box before.

Connie Moore, Medway, Ohio, wrote a food column for her hometown newspaper. She talks vinegar pie in a 2004 column and sent a copy to us. “All things have a season,” she wrote. “Vinegar pie is a March pie because the spring rhubarb is not up yet and the winter supply of fruits is gone. … It was an ‘adversity pie,’ there were no freezers, no fridges, no pressure canners or rings and lids to seal autumn’s bounty in Mason jars.”

Shirley Alston, White City, Oregon, added this note: “Rumor has it that Vinegar Pie originated in the Texas Panhandle in imitation of lemon pie, lemons being hard to come by in the old days many miles from nowhere. New Englanders and Southerners counted it a favorite, too, so wherever it came from, it was popular in 19th-century West Texas.” The recipe she sent came from The Wide, Wide World of Texas Cooking by Morton G. Clark.

1889 Vinegar Pie 

1 1/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups hot water
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs, separated
1 8-inch pie shell, baked
1/4 cup sugar, mixed with 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 

In saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch, water, vinegar and butter. Bring to boil, stir constantly until thick and clear. Remove from heat.

Stir small amount of hot mixture into beaten egg yolks, return this to saucepan and cook another 2 minutes.

Cool to room temperature and pour into pie shell. Beat egg whites with sugar/cream of tartar mixture until very stiff. Apply meringue over pie, seal meringue to crust edges. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in 325°F oven until lightly brown.

Note: Old pie tins were 8 inches. A 9-inch pie shell makes a thinner pie.

Sharon Threatt, Booneville, Arkansas, sent a cobbler recipe I thought you all might be interested to see.

Vinegar Cobbler 

3/4 cup cider vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Biscuit dough

Heat oven to 350°F.

In deep casserole dish, mix vinegar, sugar, water and cinnamon. Cut out biscuits and place on top of liquid mixture. Wet top of each biscuit with liquid. Bake 20 to 30 minutes.

 This tastes like apple cobbler without the apples. Some people use pie dough sprinkled with sugar, covered with hot liquid and baked in a 350°F oven until pie dough is done. This was a treat only enjoyed during canning season.

School-time Favorite

Joyce Woods, Guthrie, Oklahoma, is looking for a recipe for Gravy Train, a recipe that was served at her local school.

A number of readers remembered the same recipe, as do I, and we received a lot of recipes. Alice Knox, Rochester Mills, Pennsylvania, sent one that might have appeared in an old social cookbook.

Scrambled Steak (Hamburger) over Mashed Potatoes

According to the amount of people you want to serve.

Brown hamburger and chopped onion in skillet; salt and pepper to taste. When the meat is brown and the onion soft, add enough water to continue cooking until boiling a few minutes. Thicken as if you were making gravy with either cornstarch or flour. Serve over prepared mashed potatoes. Very good.

Terry Ball, Neehan, Wisconsin, sends another recipe for Gravy Train. She writes, “We ate this too, probably at least once a week. Plus, we raised four children on it as well. A great way to stretch a pound or two of hamburger. The six of us ate a good supper that filled everybody up on 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger. With three boys, there were no leftovers.”

1 to 2 pounds hamburger
1/2 cup chopped onion

In hot skillet (you have to have a black iron skillet, no substitutes, Terry adds with a smile), brown hamburger with onion. Some crumbly pieces in the bottom are a good thing. If you used hamburger that wasn’t too fatty, don’t drain the meat. If you have some real fatty meat, then you will need to drain some, but not all, of the grease.

The next step is the tricky part. Are you going to eat this over mashed potatoes or bread? (We do either/or.) If cooking potatoes, you will use the drained water for the gravy. If eating it on bread or toast, I use milk instead. If there isn’t enough potato water to make enough gravy, add some milk, water or beef broth. Stir a couple rounded tablespoons flour into the hot hamburger, and let it cook for a minute. Then pour in the water or milk and cook until thick. Salt and pepper to taste.

Betty Maclam, Mikado, Michigan, sends another version.

Ground Beef Gravy

1 pound ground beef
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) beef broth, divided
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Hot mashed potatoes or pasta

Cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain. Add 1 1/2 cups beef broth, onion, parsley flakes, basil, garlic powder, season salt and pepper.

Simmer, uncovered, 5 to 10 minutes, or until onion is tender. In small bowl, mix remaining broth and cornstarch until smooth. Stir into beef mixture. Bring to boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes, or until thickened.

Serve over hot mashed potatoes or pasta.

To prevent lumps when thickening with cornstarch, don’t mix cornstarch with a hot liquid. Combine it with a cold or room temperature liquid and add gradually to hot mixture.

HELP WANTED

? Phyllis Lewis, Satanta, Kansas, is looking for an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe that uses cooking oil and raisins soaked in pineapple juice.

? Yvonne Lavender, Mansfield, Arkansas, hopes someone will share a recipe for soap, as well as turkey leftovers.

? C.V. O’Bryant, Hernando, Mississippi, writes, “I have lost my recipe for friendship cake. It makes three cakes, one for me and two for friends, and it calls for yellow and white cake mix. I tried it with a chocolate mix and it was really delicious.”

? Debra Bailey, Warsaw, Missouri, is looking for a gum-drop cake recipe. Her mother used to make the cake for holidays, and the recipe wasn’t passed down.

? J. Harman, Holyoke, Massachusetts, hopes someone has a recipe for a no-bake, refrigerator cookie made with rolled oats as well as an apple dumpling recipe made with milk and vanilla ice cream.